Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

You’re Danny Ainge. What are you up to in the next week or so?

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Steve Aschburner: One thing I’m not doing is trading Rajon Rondo. I get the alleged reservations about the storm-cloud point guard: He’s a shaky shooter and his mood would darken during a rebuild and he might not become a great mentor for younger guys. But he’s too good to give up – Ainge likely would just double his workload trying to find half a replacement. But I am listening to and pulling the trigger on deals for anybody else, including Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, to get this makeover rolling. If I could entice a contender – Philadelphia? Chicago? the Clippers? – into offering assets for a key piece, better to do it now and get your fan base energized on the future, instead of waiting for that ol’ gang Green to lose four times in seven games this spring.

Fran Blinebury: Probably holding my breath and rubbing my lucky horseshoe and telling myself that if my core stays healthy, we can continue the post-All-Star break winning ways and make one final run. In the meantime, if anybody makes me a decent offer for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Ray Allen, then we begin the rebuilding process right now. But the one player I’m not trading is Rajon Rondo. He’s the kind of player I could spend the next 10 years trying to find. In a point guard league, I’m keeping him.

Scott Howard-Cooper: I am up to 2013 and beyond. Ainge still has a good team, a team capable of winning a playoff series, but not a championship. No surprise. He has made it clear he is looking to the future, not to hold on to something in the present that no longer exists. No sentimentality here. The Celtics are about titles and nothing less.

Shaun Powell: Unless Rondo is a bigger headache behind-the-scenes than we know, I’m chilling if I’m Ainge. Nobody will give up anything of substance for Kevin Garnett or Ray Allen at this stage of their careers, so might as well ride out the Big Three and save your wheeling and dealing for the summer. Rondo is under contract for three more years, so the Celtics can build around him. Unless somebody’s giving up a better player who’s less of a headache, then Rondo’s my guy in the transition to the next era.

John Schuhmann: I’m acknowledging that there’s no way my team is getting past Chicago or Miami, and I’m fielding plenty of phone calls. I’m trading Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett (both expiring) if I can get a decent young player or lottery pick in return, without hurting my financial flexibility going forward. I’m trading Paul Pierce if I can get a young star in return. And I’m trading Rajon Rondo only if I get a bigger star in return. Rondo should be traded only if you’re upgrading, not getting back 50 cents on the dollar.

Sekou Smith: Ainge, who has been fearless about making radical deals in the past, needs to sit this trade deadline out. Stay on the sidelines. Watch someone else totally alter their team with a brave but risky deal and see if they fare any better than you did last year when you sent Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green (other details left out on purpose to prove a point). We all know that you are NOT trading Rajon Rondo, so there is no reason to worry about you doing anything on that front. But just in case your dialing hand gets itchy before the March 15 deadline, just think back to last year this time and remember that sometimes it’s best to let others play in the deep end of the pool while you catch your breath.

Stephun – not a bad idea, obviously they have been looking more seriously at Kaman since the news about Wilcox broke, but Odom is not a bad option either. He can’t really play center too well, but adding him AND Kaman would be some seriously much-needed relief for KG and Stiemmsma. The only problem is, there’s not much that Boston can give up for Odom. While they just need cash for Kaman, they would need a trade for Odom and what do they have that would interest Dallas? There’s no one on the bench that brings much to the Dallas squad, except perhaps Bradley, but I feel Boston is priming him for a more significant role over the next few years.

@ninja : At the moment, KG is earning 21 million. So your deal is far from possible or even logical. Give away an amazing defender who started playing better and one of the best pointguards in the league for Dwight?!
Danny Ainge is capable of making great/awful decisions. I just hope he doesn’t mess with the core of the team.

It doesnt make sense to trade away young potential talent for an aging center who has had his best years behind him when we are so close to rebuilding. I would love Kaman if we didnt have to lose talent for the addition. Otherwise we are just getting further away from the goal of remaining talented while working towards a new and younger roster. Kaman alone wont bring us the Championship so we shouldnt act like he will. Take the talent we can get for Ray – and hope that he resigns with us next year for two years for a manageable number. Drafting well always means a lot and I feel Ainge has missed these last three years- Giddens instead of Jordan???? It’s an imperfect process but for all of his earlier draft success which enabled the signings of Ray and Kevin, he should be jusged on the years since as well.

I say stick with the Big Three until the end now and, evidently, stick with Rondo too. Celtics should stay way from trades right now, unless it’s to acquire a good center that is less than 30 years old and in better shape than Jermaine O’Neal. So, Chris Kaman would be a yes for me, and not much else.

Guys, be objective: would you be interested in JO, ever, as a GM? Jo is dead!!! If he’s lucky he’s gonna play a few more playoff games and that’s it, grabbing 2 and half rebounds, 1-7 shooting. I don’t even understand why they kept him this year in the first place. Anyone interested in him should ask Ainge for the coffin that comes with JO.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwww .,.,.,.,celtics is now rondo’s team .,.and he would be traded are they crazy ,..,..,.,they are trading the rondo that happened to be there best paler .,.,.,.they have already a good guard like rondo ..,.and they will trade him what kind of being idiot is that .,., there problem is in rebounding,.,.,so they would find a better center and build the team w/ rondo.,.,.,rondo is the future of there team .,.

You take any center on this page and see if you can get one of these guys without trading Rondo, Pierce, Ray and KG.
And then later build around Rondo. I think that the Cs will develop some solid players (e.g. Moore)…

If C’s decide to go with D12, they could try KG for DH12, or KG and Ray for DH12 and J-Rich. The other option is to give them lower contracts, clear cap space, and the sign FA. A GREAT FA. He’d be tempted with playing Rondo!

d howard is not a Shaq, yea he smiles n does all that goofy stuff on camera but I don’t buy it he definitely would be outta sync with Celtics, especially Rondo. i don’t see it happening, besides last I checked Howard wants to play along side lots of players.

Chicago with Ray Allen would be insanely good, and would thrash Celtics in the playoffs, so why would they make that trade, Celtics are a great team, they’re only missing a solid centre that doesn’t cost too much…someone like Kendrick Perkins of the Oklahoma Thunder…

I agree with the statement suggesting that the Celtics should rebuild their bench rather than trying to move any of their marquee pieces. Also…JO needs to go. Boston’s bench probably wouldnt make the NIT and really isn’t talented enough to back up the Big 4. Not sure what the C’s were thinking by bringing Daniels back or not moving Bradley but the back-up guard/SF situation is horrible. Wilcox has been a nice addition but Pavlovic and Dooling have provided zero help. Scott Howard Cooper wrote that the Celtics are all about banner number 18 and winning titles…? He must mean somebody else because the C’s not only lack a championship-ready roster but seem to be blind about that fact. Boston needs a center and a more skilled bench to contend. Boston is probably out of title contention for the next 3-4 years no matter what the draft brings. If this team cannot attract key talent THIS year it`’s the 90’s all over again. Enjoy!

ainge don’t trade your players the big can still play ang they have an exiping contract…just lower their salary next season to clear your cap room and find a potential young or rookie player to rebuild the team garnett allen peirce would be the mentor of the young players

I see what you all are saying but definitley should not trade rajon rondo or avery bradly. I think we should build this team around rondo and keep avery bradly for defensive purposes when rondo is on the bench. Possibly look to engage in hard work to get his jump shot up also. If these key thing pan out with a solid team we could be pretty good. I see that we should let this season pan out and let the big 3 have a final shot. I believe that paul pierce will be back next season. with rondo and pierce running the team and some key shooters, we will do what we need to do. The big thing we need to work on is centers. we need that more than anything.

Bradley is a marginal NBA talent and should be packaged in some kind of trade. I would hate to see the C’s spend any kind of money on a statline dud. He’s not an offenive weapon and the Cs need scoring. He’s not a defensive substitute for Rondo and is regularly outplayed by the talent at his position. If his skills don’t compliment a contending roster he should be packaged and traded along with JO, Dooling, Pavlovic and Daniels.

A tricky one!! Ray Allen for Joakim Noah would work salary wise and give both teams something they need, but, the Bulls probably value Noah too much to make the trade and they’re probably happy with what they’ve got right now. Maybe the Celtics will wait until the summer with KG’s and Ray’s contracts expiring they’ll get around $31million freed up and maybe try to use Rondo and Pierce to get Howard to sign, but, it’s somewhat risky. One way or another the Celtics need a quality big. But I feel they’ll leave it as it is see what happens and go for a new look team next season.

A tricky one!! Ray Allen for Joakim Noah would work salary wise, but, the Bulls probably value what Noah does too much even though that trade would help both teams. Maybe they’ll wait with KG’s and Ray’s contracts expiring in the summer ,let them go freeing up over $31 million and see if they can use Rondo and Pierce to tempt Howard to sign. It’s risky, but whatever they do they need a quality big.

i prefer trading rondo and pierce if u want a good makeover… try to get howard and nelson in return. It’s gonna be the best move and i think orlando will accept this transaction and both team will benefit well. by this surely boston will have a big chance to win the title again this year. include bradley or wilcox if orlando won.t agree.

I don’t know if Boston would go for it but I think the Bulls would gain a lot for a straight up swap between Boozer and KG. That would takeaway the weakest defensive link for the Bulls. He would be ideal for nullifying the likes of Bosh in the Eastern Conference semi finals and you don’t lose that much on offence because they are both averaging 15ppg. I’m pretty sure their salaries would be pretty similar too. It’d make the Bulls easily the best defensive team in the NBA if you ask me. I’m sure they could stop the Heat. It’d possibly make them one of the best defensive teams of all time I dare say.

ray and kevin must stay in celtics. rondo and pierce too…ainge must work on rebuilding the bench of the team…the big 3+1 is still great men…hope ray kevin and paul and rajon hope to see them retire in celtics uniform

Ok What i would do. Talk to big three and resign contracts with them fol long term for smaller money. Lets say give them mid salary long terms and clear cap space for multiple draft picks and/or someone really good. Not Howard – he is not good, he is just big and do not fit to Celtics style of play.

Why not trade doc rivers for Tom Thibodeau and see what happens. The Celtics won the 2008 NBA crown with Tom Thibodeau and look at the Chicago Bulls right now under Tom Thibodeau! Surprising to note that the Bulls don’t have a Big Three in their line up but with the brilliant guidance of Tom Thibodeau they are number in the East! So forget about the Big Three or Rondo being traded and all Danny Ainge has to do is to trade rivers for tom! Remember the Lakers during the late ninetees when they had Kobe Bryant and Shacquille O’neal but with no Brilliant Coach to guide them they never went to the finals and it was only the arrival of a brilliant coach in the person of Phil Jackson that they won Three Consecutive Titles and another two in 2009 and 2010! You see, No matter how good a player you are but with no good coach to guide you, you’re nothing. That’s why it’s always competitive to have a good coach around!

BUY HOWARD !!!!!! The C’s have a lot of free money coming soon.., then it may be worth them hiring him until next year then put him on an increased contract ( small pay the first year til the oldies retire then mega bucks! )… once we stop paying a retired shaq, speak to the big three, reduce their optioned amount or retire someone early worst case…. ray allen is totally being wasted on the C’s ( as much as that kills me ) he runs open court constantly and never gets the ball as much these days, Garnett coming off the bench for a howard would really be a force… no ones fast enough to keep up with Rondo currently anyway plus doc is completely defense orientated… BUY HOWARD !!!!!! trade garnett wilcox and oneill if needed.

Trading Perkins was the dumbest thing Ainge did. Perkins is not a star material, but he is a really disent center; and there aren’t too many of those around. I say this even before Green’s injury.
Now, we can only expect a slow death of a great team. If we still had Perkins we might be able to build something quick enough after the trio retire. Instead, we wait till they blow away in the end of this year or maybe the next one (Garnet is gone already, we may squeeze another good year from Allen and maybe 2 from Pierce), and while they take the C’s into this Phenix Suns mediocracy era – no playoffs and no draft pick – we can only loure for a free agent that really likes Rondo and Boston weather.

but if Green was playing like he played right from the get go, like a beast n everything, you wouldn’t be saying so. Plus even with Jeff out the effect coulda been less if that foreigne dude they got for centre didn’t say he wanted out. It was two unfortunate events but none coulda foreseen that. Instead of criticizing, just hope he doesn’t make the same mistake again n leaves Celtics as they are, no trades.

As above – why would they do this? Give up three of their 4 best players for two guys who just came off injury and an unknown draft pick. They could just let KG and Allen’s contacts expire, then use the 30M to sign two players BETTER then Gordan and Kaman, keep Rondo, and keep the change.

bahaha y’all are a trip. Sorry to kill your fantasy but nobody in the celtics team want Kaman over and they definitely not giving up nobody not even Marquis Daniels for him. If celtics can get howard, in which case the probability of that happening is like 1 to 10, then steisma would have to b enuff for that centre position.

Celts must keep Rondo (future of organization) and Pierce (a rare, loyal lifer, rarer than superstars in today’s league), and trade anyone else that will get Dwight Howard into Celtics Green. That or another potential big like LaMarcus Aldridge or Kevin Love. KG is on his way out, Allen & Pierce still have 2, 3 years in them easy. Bring in a dynamic, dominant big and a young swingman and Celts could contend with the best of them.

Forget Chris Kaman… he is not the kind of player you would give up stars for. I know he’s available but come on that’s just ridiculous. You need an offensive AND defensive force and he barely makes the grade in either category.

Why on gods green earth would the Celtics do that? KG is better then Boozer (look at the numbers, let alone the intangibles) and Allen is so much better the Brewer that it’s not even funny. Plus they give Boston a combined ~30 million in expiring contracts for next year,which they can use to sign multiple quality players. Boston gets NOTHING out of this.

yo why even reply to the ridiculous comments? I LOL’D at the ridiculousity of that suggestion, trade boozer and ”insert whomever here” for KG n Ray Allen. Like Danny or anyone for that matter would even take that into consideration.

I’m not sure if you meant to reply to my post, because I never said anything about trading KG for Boozer or Allen for Brewer, those would be horrible trades. I said it would be more advantageous for Boston to get a dynamic big man and a young swingman (though arguably Jeff Green could fill those role when he’s back next year).

No need to trade the Big 4. KG & Ray’s contract are going to expire after this season anyways so why trade them? They could go after Dwight Howard after this season if ever he stays with the Magic. if not sign good role players, offer more money to Hibbert, Mayo or Batum. Plus they have 2 1st round draft picks next season. So why rebuild now? Ride with the oldies, and see what happens.

we are not giving up on anyone. The big 3 plus rondo “is the celtics” and will be the celtics this year. Can they win another one? who knows, but we can always rebuild next year. No rush here. I’d rather have the big 3 retire in celtics, and come back with a lower salary (which is my guess for next year).

what they need to do is just ride the rest to the season… then have a private conference with ray allen and kg saying. hey guys this is how we make one last run for you guys. if you take the absolutly minumum contracts next year imagine all that free cap space. we could sign dwight howard plus maybe one other major free agent. what do you guys think???

If I was Danny I would trade Kevin. Maybe Ray to but KG definetly. They are not gonna win with the ”big 3” so why not make some moves. Maybe trade Kevin and Ray for 1 good young player allthough I’m not sure that’s posibile. I wouldn’t even think about trading Rondo…not even for a second.

I would trade Pietrus,Bradley,Johnson,Wilcox, & 1st round pick to Portland for J.Crawford and M.Camby by Saturday. Trade Moore and Dooling to Golden State for N.Robinson an athletic scorer and trade Pavlovic,Daniels, & 2nd round pick to Miami for J.Jones by tomorrow. I would sign Eddie House,Wilson Chandler, & Leon Powe to Boston for 1 year by tomorrow.

Ha, just like the oldtime squad from championship year :) I wouldn’t mind getting Powe, House and/or Robinson back for some sparks off the bench. C’s have really gotten a lackluster bench since 2008 which is why they cannot win consistently over the stretch.

Ok. that what they need to do. P.Pierce – A.Iguodala, R.Allen – J.R. or who can shoot 3’s like Allen. They can’t trade Rondo, couse he is one of the best PG, and KG can be good teacher on defense for young teammates.

It always looks good for your team, C’s would no way in hell do that. Maybe if they got Bynum, they wouldn’t want Gasol and his contract for Rondo with his. Rondo isn’t going anywhere, especially for Gasol.

I think the celtics need some decently young guys. Josh Smith for KG. But they cannot trade rondo or pierce. They also need a big man. Trading Kendrick Perkins was stupid so they need to make up for there mistakes.

Howard to Boston for rondo? Be the next Bill Russel. Some how throw hedo’s or big baby’s contract in there, maybe even garnett or allen. Can’t trade Pierce, that’d be bogus. Build around Jeff Green and Dwight.

No sense in trading any of the big three/big four… KG, Pierce, Allen or Rondo at this point in time. KG and Allen’s contracts will expire at the end of the season so they can see what the plan is at that point.

In my opinion, the Celtics can compete if they simply upgraded their bench and acquired a decent Centre who actually plays games (unlike O’Neal, who is always battling injury). Let the big three/four make one final run by increasing the talent off the bench and getting a decent big man.

Allen and KG to Chicago for Booz, Brewer and a pick. Allen gives us 3pt%, the same D and forces the opponent to spread the floor, helping D-Rose slash. KGs no doubt dwindling minutes over the next couple of years will help Gibson to develop as his minutes go up. Rose, Deng and Gibson are untradebale for me, and Noah only goes if DH12 was coming. Get Ray and KG, you make the best D in the league stronger; in 3 years when they hang it up, we’ll be looking for a sg again, like we are now so no worse off there, Gibson will be allstar quality, and we’ll have a title. We just need KG to drop the ‘never playing in Chicago’ stance.

Trade Wilcox and O’Neal+ 1st or 2nd Rd pick for Kaman seems to be a great deal. O’Neal and Bradley with Kaman don’t match in salary cap. Or stay aside, wait for the offseason and with the cap space, sign D12 if he’s willing to and doesn’t get traded in the meantime, or another bg guy whose contract is expiring, and enters FA. The problem is that not many big guys are going in FA.

If I was Danny Ainge I would trade Ray Allen and Jermaine Oneal to T’Wolves for Beasley, Milicic and Wesley Johson. Minnesota gets the SG they need and a backup C to Pek and Boston gets 2 former #2 picks and a C that is not always injured plus they start building for the future

I agree with Sekou on this one. Boston should stand pat and see what happens. If the Celtics stay healthy and catch a few breaks, anything is possible in the postseason. These guys have seen absolutely everything and with a break here and there they just might be able to have a deeper than expected playoff run.

This will be the last run for this team as presently constituted and in my opinion, with two NBA Finals appearances and an NBA Championship, they have earned the right to give it one final shot.

I agree with you 100%…especially this season being so chaotic…its the best and only chance to ride out the big 3…
they have the professionalism to do it…they just need to be healthy…imagine if they have jeff green now…that would help out the front court so much…

danny ainge needs to start thinking about the future..giving up a veteran like chris wilcox for a draft pick would be a good idea for example..the big 3 are getting older and their chances at another legitimate championship run are dwindling quickly..their defense remains top 5 in the league but their age really shows on the offensive end..they need draft picks and young talent..and most importantly they need to keep rondo..thats their foundation for their future mindofmattman.blogspot.com

Thats a great trade. I’m not sure salary match but I could see that trade happening with a few more pieces. And yeah I don’t see any point in rebuilding now, no one is going to give up a young piece for Allen or KG. At the most u might get a draft pick in the 20’s.

if you are going to trade for someone like chris kaman,i would just wait for next summer w/ my bigger cap and join dwight fever. Think about it dwight + rondo + pierce then ask garnett & allen to sign a minimum contract since those guys are already rich and $$$ won’t really matter to them anymore those guys are just for the rings now.

I’m sure the bulls would be very interested in Ray Allen.. But do you think of Allen for Gibson or Asik?
Celtics could need a decent big man and the bulls need somebody on that SG position who can shoot and defend.

First I don’t think the salary match. Next I’m pretty sure they don’t want to give up both gibson and asik. In order to win a championship u need depth and without those two the bulls lose all there front court depth. Plus Gibson a lot of time ends game with bulls cause of his defense. If possible I would look for a Asik and Korver with maybe one more player for allen. I don’t think bulls really want allen that much cause they already have Rip. Although I think they might be a little interested in KG for Boozer. Better defender and post up player plus Gibson is a good back up PF so KG doesn’t have to play a lot. But i’m pretty sure celtics don’t want Boozers big contract.

agree with Amitpal. Plus bulls are too light up front to give up a PF or C, if there’s a trade for Allen it will be built around Rip Hamilton and I don’t see why Boston would pull that trigger. Unless they can land Ronnie Brewer. Or Scalabrine. Y’know, for old times’ sake.

what about Kyle Korver? He’s one of the best shooters in the league currently! not as great as Ray, but he’s still a great shooter. Also while Korver’s not amazing at defense, I still think he’s got a better defensive game than Ray Allen. So forcing those two (very similar) players into the same team, fighting for minutes, along with Ronnie Brewer?… I just dont see it working well

If celtics get rid of Allen the team will take a big hit, if they get rid of anyone it should be dooling or bradley sure they are good back ups but you can get a big out of them that is better than o’neal